by Doug Harvey

On Saturday, February 4th, 2017 the Port Stanley Sailors played game thirty-nine of
the season against the Exeter Hawks on home ice at the Port Stanley Arena.

First goal honours went to the Port Stanley Sailors at 6:06, when Nolan Blewett (13) put
the puck past Hawks goalie Trevor Fleming (30), from a pass by Lucas Knight (15),
and Trevor Smith (17). First period action ended with the Sailors having control of the
game.

The second period started off with the Sailors extending their lead by two, the first
at 3:00 with Ryan Humphrey (23) scoring, and assists going to Kyle Hopper (16), and
Dawson Maton (7). The second went in a short time later at 4:36, when Nolan Blewett (13)
on a fast break scored his second of the evening, with Trevor Smith (17), and Nicholas
Phillips (4) assisting. With the action heating up, the Hawks took advantage of Port
Stanley's time in the penalty box, to get two power play goals, the first at 7:13 from
Ian Vandenheuvel (7), with Liam Melady (20), and Christian Petrozza (22) assisting. The
second at 12:35 with Max Bannon (5) taking credit, with assists going to Jonathon
Frook (23), and Ian Vandenheuvel (7). With less than a minute remaining in the second
period, it was Port Stanley's turn to take advantage of a Hawks penalty, with Lucas
Knight (15) scoring, assisted by Eric Potts (28), and Trevor Smith (17) giving the
Sailors a two goal lead.

Third period action saw Nolan Blewett (13) at 5:43 get his hat-trick for the game,
assisted by Lucas Knight (15), and Dawson Maton (7) putting the Sailors ahead by three.
The Hawks came back a short time later at 6:34, with Ian Vandenheuvel (7) scoring, and
assists from Adam Gibb (19), and Max Bannon (5). The game looked like it was on course
for an easy win for the Sailors, but at 11:35 Hawks Justin McCarter (25), assisted by
Andrew Martin (18), got passed Sailors goalie Andrew Maass (30) to close the gap to one.
Now with the Hawks desperately trying to tie the game, efforts still failed after pulling
their goalie, when at 19:27 Jacob Johnson (5) took advantage of an empty net, with Nolan
Blewett (13), and Brady Allen (2) assisting to make for a great race to the finish, with
the Sailors taking the win with the score Port Stanley Sailors 6 - Exeter Hawks 4.